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Is Antarctica A Possibility For A Free Society?

With talk of Space X talking of a manned mission to Mars pretty soon it makes you think, what about Antarctica? In a lot of ways Antarctica is like Mars. It's very remote, basically nobody lives there, the living conditions are very extreme and there aren't really any governments there.

So why hasn't Antarctica been colonized? Could Antarctica serve as land for a free society? Would Antarctica be a viable solution for setting up a free society? Well, let's take a look.

Current Ownership

First of all, Antarctica isn't necessarily free. There is currently a treaty on Antarctica called the "Antarctic Treaty System". This treaty basically states that Antarctica will be used for scientific purposes and bans the use of military activity on this continent. Well, that's fine considering a free society would most certainly be a non-militaristic society. And in many ways a free society would be a scientific experiment. So a free society would also fall under the category of science.

Exhibit A

If you direct your attention towards Exhibit A you will notice that much of Antarctica is already claimed by different nations. With that said, there is still a slice of Antarctica, a rather large slice, which is currently unclaimed. This is known as Marie Byrd Land. This territory of Antarctica currently is not claimed by any nation. This is the largest amount of unclaimed land on Earth.

So could we start a free society here?

Costs and Benefits

Shall we go down under and hang with the penguins?

Well, this gets down to a discussion of costs and benefits.

Antarctica is extremely cold. The coldest temperature ever recorded was on Antarctica at −128.6°F. The warmest temperature on Antarctica was 63.5°F at Hope Bay, right at the very tip of Antarctica, south of South America. The average temperature of Antarctica is around -70°F while the coasts are a bit warmer.

Since Antarctica is at the south pole, it doesn't have normal days like on the rest of Earth. It has one long 6 month day of sunlight and one long 6 month night of darkness. The majority of people who do research on Antarctica stay during the warmer periods of sunlight and vacate during the colder periods of darkness. There really isn't anyone who stays there and lives there permanently.

What about food?

Obviously the food here is rather meek. You have penguins who live off of seafood on nearby shores. Your two main sources of food would be penguins and seafood. You're not going to be able to grow any vegetables unless you do some type of greenhouse like in the movie "The Martian". And who knows how feasible that even is and if it's worth it.

So is it possible?

The short answer is no. At least I don't think so. Despite the advances in technology we have, Antarctica still does not seem like a self-sustainable location. And self-sustainability is important when it comes to a free society. Sure, it would be possible to survive there and receive supplies from outside of Antarctica and basically camp out there at a station. But this isn't really living. This is really hard to scale into anything. This is still relying on some other host to keep you afloat.

I mean, the thing that makes you wonder about it is that Space X will be facing these same challenges by going to Mars. Mars has many similarities and they are going to have the same problems with food and survival there. It's a huge challenge. And simply surviving by living off of resources that you bring with you doesn't count. Unless you can establish a self-sustaining environment that doesn't need external help then it can't work, or it at least won't be profitable. You will continue to suck resources and it's going to become more and more costly before you finally throw in the towel. It's possible you may reach some type of breakthrough or innovation to become sustainable, but given the alternatives, the alternatives seem better.

You're not able to farm here. You're completely cut off from the rest of society (it takes at least 5 days just to sail from ship to Antarctica). You're not able to do many basic things here because of the extreme climate. Your quality of life is terrible here. And when compared to other more viable alternatives it's just not worth it.

I still think something like Seasteading is fairly far fetched. But when compared to Antarctica, Seasteading suddenly becomes a lot more appealing. At least with Seasteading you can grow stuff and be in a favorable climate. At least with Seasteading you have the ability to quickly trade or travel to other locations. At least with Seasteading you could still have a decent quality of life. You could at least go outside and run, you could enjoy the sun, you could take in the beautiful air, you could do a lot with Seasteading and live in wonderful locations. Sure, Seasteading has great costs involved with it, but at least that's the only real problem.

Antarctica is just sad and scary. It seems really glim when seriously considering it. In all honesty I would rather live in America and pay taxes than live in Antarctica as a free person. And I don't see any way of changing this in the foreseeable future. So in my humble opinion I would rule Antarctica out as far as available options for a free society go. I just think there are much better alternatives that are more realistic and easier to pull off.

11:20amQuinton: We need to get people in communication and involved with this process before actually going for it.

9:05amCaptainDrG: Greeting Quenton, thank you. You have made my job easier. I've actually develop a model, with training programs and processes to scale up what this concept. For the past twenty five years been actually developing the Information Age model, testing getting the bugs out. Research and Development is expensive. We are ready to lay out the full blown model across America and the world. Let stay connected. Great minds think just alike. Captain Dr. Gerald Higginbotham.

3:58pmAeiusCercle: Greetings. Introducing myself. Just joined. Will interact more after I learn more about how to navigate/contribute through this web-site.

10:28pmQuinton: Welcome to the site AeiusCercle, thanks for joining! :)

6:07pmwayfarer: Greetings to all. Just looking around, and when I can contribute to the site I'll chime in.

2:15pmCamdromeda: Hi All! Stoked to have randomly found this site. I've been thinking for a while about how society can be reorganised, based on non-violent principles. I really believe it would work. And I believe that left to their own devices, most people are pretty great. And I don't think questions and uncertainty should keep us chained to systems that clearly do not work. Creative people and entrepreneurs are well suited to the types of problems we currently face and I'm really excited to be joining and seeing where I can contribute my skills.

11:18amJohn Huckel: I call my system MultiLevel Governance. It is a completely Internet-based method for people to get together for ACTION - not just chatting. (paragraph break) We won't have to go anywhere - just start undoing the hold our traditional Governments have over us. (para break) You will never have to deal with more than 7 people at a time. The system allows for anonymous participation: 1) informal Chatting; 2) serious Deliberation regarding whatever is under discussion; Voting for a Plan of Action; and even the Funding of the Plan. (para break) On Dropbox, you can see it once - then it insists you download it to somewhere else. (para break) I am very pleased to have found you guys. Please let me know your reactions. John

11:41amThrob: I listened to a video and felt need to comment on a fundamental &amp; mistaken belief about government and taxes.

11:44amThrob: Here's reality, Money Changers run and control everything. U.$. Taxes are laundered to the City of London thru their IMF collection AGENCY in PUERTO RICO called the IRS.

11:44amThrob: A foreign owned for profit Corporation as per listing on Dun &amp; Bradstreet.